


When You Smile

by shykylosolo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, ben gets along with kids, ben is already redeemed, rey thinks it's cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 01:18:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13377075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shykylosolo/pseuds/shykylosolo
Summary: I saw a picture on tumblr of Disney Kylo with kids and I was inspired.Rey doesn’t understand how this always happens. She always gets stuck talking to the adults and having to answer the hard questions and Ben ends up talking to the kids and playing with them. It’s completely unfair and she doesn’t really understand why the kids are so drawn to him.Ben is always stone faced and seems to have his jaw clenched unless he’s talking to or near children. It’s like as soon as he sees them he has to sit down and let them climb all over him. She shakes her head in disbelief at the sight in front of her.





	When You Smile

 

 

Rey doesn’t understand how this always happens. She always gets stuck talking to the adults and having to answer the hard questions and Ben ends up talking to the kids and playing with them. It’s completely unfair and she doesn’t really understand why the kids are so drawn to him.

Ben is always stone faced and seems to have his jaw clenched unless he’s talking to or near children. It’s like as soon as he sees them he has to sit down and let them climb all over him. She shakes her head in disbelief at the sight in front of her.

Ben is sitting with one kid in his lap while he braids her hair and another little girl is standing behind him braiding _his_ hair. He keeps his eyes on a set of boys that are running around and barks at them to “Slow down, please! You’re going to run into someone or something and hurt yourselves!” And Rey’s eyes are almost rolling into the back of her head.

“Ms. Rey, if you follow me this way I can introduce you to the current Senator of Corellia. She has a very interesting take on how to fix up some of the planets that were ravaged by war,” The man keeps talking, pulling Rey by her arm towards other politicians. She can’t help but look at Ben one more time, and he looks at her with a big grin on his face, looking like he’s about to start laughing at what one of the kids just told him.

 _She told me I look pretty with braids_. His voice booms in her brain and she can’t help but smile at the happiness in his voice. _Did you thank her?_ She asks him, hoping she can keep up with two conversations at once as she is introduced to the Senator. Rey smiles and nods in all the right places, but she knows she would rather be talking to Ben.

 _Of course I did, it would be rude not to. Sorry, I had to separate Davi and Jord, they were about to start hitting each other and I have a feeling their parents would not be very happy if they came back with bruises._ Rey laughs a little at the haughtiness in his voice.

 _Why do you always gravitate towards the kids? We’re supposed to be talking about policies and being a good connection between The Force and the Senate._ If Rey sounds a little bit frustrated, it’s because she is. He was supposed to help her with all this. Ben is good with the manners and knowing what to ask, something that probably came with growing up with a political mind such as Leia’s. Rey doesn’t know how to deal with any of it, often resorting to just listening and taking mental notes.

_They don’t know who I am or what I’ve done. They just see me as this big kid to play with. There’s no hate behind their eyes and they don’t care who I am, they just want someone to pay attention to them. I wasn’t around a lot of adults who were willing to spend time with me, so I like to take the time to talk to them. Some of them actually have really good ideas that I’ve used to shape some of the policies I’ve recommended to the Senate…_

Rey excuses herself to find a glass of champagne that she gulps down a little too quickly. She relishes in the burn as she thinks about what Ben has told her. _Which policies?_

_A lot of the education ones, helping with building schools. My favorite is the one about requiring all schools to offer arts classes. The way they were talking about their art- whether it was music, painting, writing- made me realize that everyone should have the opportunity to express themselves in a way that’s not destructive. I often wonder if I had gotten into something like that if I might not have…done what I did._

The hesitation in his voice during the last sentence makes her sigh, knowing how much guilt he held in himself for his actions. It was part of the reason she fought for him when the Council wanted to have him killed or exiled. She knew his story was important, and if he stayed, they might be able to help more children like him. The new Force Academy taught about both the light and dark sides, showing the children the uses and the issues with both sides. Almost every class had two teachers, with each being more predisposed to the light or dark side so they could work together to teach.

_I like that bill. The fact that there are more schools on outer-rim planets makes me happy as well. The closest I ever got to school was learning how to clean things and speak different languages from the people that went through Niima, but that was about it. Thank you for suggesting that, Ben. It really did mean a lot to me._

She feels the contentment and happiness rolling off of Ben in waves over her mind and it makes her feel more at peace with the situation at hand. She continues to mingle with Senators and politicians, taking her notes and making sure to talk to everyone and see how they feel about issues. She takes a break to get some fresh air and settle her mind a little bit and when she walks out of the bathroom and into the front room, where Ben had been playing with the kids, she sees why he was so content.

The kids are all curled up around or on top of him, and they all seem to be taking a nap. She smiles at the sight of Ben with his arms around two of the kids, as though he is keeping them safe. She takes a mental picture so that she can show him later and she clenches her jaw as her mind changes the scene a little bit to show Ben cuddling with kids that have his curly black hair and cute button noses. She immediately tries to shove that thought from her brain, not wanting to even think of the implications of that.

Ben’s eyes are suddenly open, and he stops himself from bolting up. Rey watches as he looks at the kids around him and he runs his hands through their hair, making sure they’re all comfortable and that none of them are being plagued by nightmares as he usually is. He looks up and his eyes lock on to Rey’s. He smiles sleepily and whispers, “Hello.”

Rey smiles back and feels like her heart is breaking from how much she wants this, and she tries to close the bond so he doesn’t see her desires, but she’s not sure if she shut him out fast enough this time. He frowns at her. “Is there a reason you closed the bond? Did somebody say something, do I need to do something?” His voice has a note of panic in it and Rey shakes her head, “No, everything is fine. I just needed some time to myself for a little bit. A lot of people in there to talk to and keep straight, you know.” Their voices are soft, carrying over the music that’s playing in the main room where the party is being held.

Ben slowly starts to make his way out of the jungle of kids, shushing them lightly as they whimper at the loss of his body heat and comfortable positions. He’s so gentle with them, in a way he’s rarely gentle with anyone. “I’ll come in there in help you, sorry I left you by yourself for so long. I didn’t mean to fall asleep but they kind of trapped me there.”

He offers her his arm and they walk back to the main room of the party. Ben is instantly more tense, but she can still feel how content he still is from his nap. She looks up at him and laughs as she raises her hands to his hair and undoes a braid that’s still left. “You missed one,” She told him, smiling even though his shoulders got tight as she lightly tugged the braid out. “I was told I look pretty with them in though. Maybe it would have made people more open to me and now you’ve ruined it!” He’s teasing her, and Rey can tell by the slight curve upwards at the corners of his lips that he’s enjoying it.

“Would you like me to put it back? I’ve finally learned how to braid, though it probably won’t look as good as it did.” She offers it to him, mostly wanting to feel his hair between her fingers again, but he shakes his head and pretends to look miserable. “It’s okay, it won’t be the same.” Rey’s laugh bubbles out of her and she feels how pleased he is to have made her laugh and it makes her laugh a little bit harder.

Rey does notice that with Ben by her side, she gets more looks and stares than she did when she was by herself. She isn’t sure if people are looking at them because Ben is well…Ben, or if it’s because he’s so tall and almost impossible to not look at. Ben commands attention any time he’s in a room, whether he knows it or not. That could be another reason why he likes being around kids. Everyone has almost come to expect him to spend time with them, though the first time he did it she could tell how shocked and worried people were. But as soon as they saw how natural he was with kids and the smiles on his and the kid’s faces, they left him to it.

She loops her hand through Ben’s arm again and pulls him towards people she hasn’t seen yet. They play nice with all the people and soon the party is winding down and they can finally take their leave. Her hand hasn’t really left Ben’s arm the whole night and she finds she isn’t really ready to stop but they have made it to their speeder and she has to. The ride to their rooms are mostly quiet, both of them in their own heads about the night.

“Do you want kids?” The question tumbles out of Rey’s mouth before she can filter it and she wants to hit herself for not using her brain. “It’s okay,” he mumbles, his jaw slightly clenched.

“I do, but I doubt I’ll ever get the chance to have them. Nobody is going to want to deal with my past.” Ben looks upset, like it was something he had thought about either a lot or recently. She could feel how much he wanted children, how much he wanted to be a good father and it almost shocked her.

“Ben, I’m sure there’s someone who would be willing. Everyone loves you, it just takes a little while for them to realize you’ve changed. But there’s no way girls wouldn’t be falling all over themselves to be with you.” She’s edging the line of saying things she shouldn’t, so she stops herself, trying to keep her thoughts about why girls would be falling all over him to herself.

They stop at their hotel and Ben opens the car door for her, holding out his hand to help her down. She grabs it and lets him pull her out of the speeder, and if their hands are touching for longer than is necessary, nobody mentions it.

It’s obvious to everyone that Ben is attractive. He’s tall, muscular, and handsome, even with his big ears and crooked nose. Even his scar is attractive, giving him a devilish look that made him look dangerous and sexy. And when Ben smiled…well no girl could say no to him after that. It was beautiful, always reaching his eyes and with his teeth showing, almost like he couldn’t help it.

“I only smile like that when I’m with you, you know?” Her breath catches at the fact that he caught her thinking of that, and then her brain processes his words. “I don’t understand what you mean.” She says breathlessly, hoping he can’t hear the nerves in her voice.

“You are the only person I show that side of myself. I can’t trust anyone else with it, but you get it. You get me. You always have.” Ben’s voice almost sounds like its shaking and Rey looks up into his eyes and tries not to suck in a huge breath at the intensity of his eyes on hers. He lets out a self-depreciating laugh and Rey feels her heart break a little bit at the sound.

“Rey, if it wasn’t for you I would be dead somewhere in an unmarked grave. I owe you everything and anything and yet I find myself wanting more from you. I know I shouldn’t, I just can’t help it.” Ben sounds like he’s steeling himself for rejection, and Rey’s heart is beating out of her chest with his confession.

Ben wants more from her? More like he wants to date her or more like he wants children? Not that she’s opposed to either, one is just a lot more serious than the other and if she’s going to be with Ben, then she wants it to be forever. She realizes too late that she hasn’t been shielding her thoughts from him at all. His face is scrunched up, like he’s trying to not get his hopes up but he can’t help it after hearing the word “forever” race across her brain and into his.

Suddenly, Ben’s hand is on the back of her neck and he’s pulling her closer to him, pressing their foreheads together and Rey gasps when she feels how much he loves her and wants her. Tears begin to gather at the corners of her eyes and she forces them back. No one has ever loved her like that before.

Ben’s hand is still tugging her forward and their lips meet and all of the thoughts that either of them were having are stopped and it’s almost like there is complete silence and peace inside them for a split second before their brains catch up with their actions. After that it’s a flurry of wrapping their arms around each other to get as close as possible.

“I love you,” is murmured between them.

“I know.”

 

 

 


End file.
